Gov. Chris Christie will count on New Jersey voters to put him over the top when he’s up for re-election in November, but big-money donors from outside the state have become a priority.

Despite polls showing he’s well on the way to winning another four-year term, Christie is on a two-month blitz to meet campaign donors outside New Jersey, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars and padding his already loaded campaign coffers during the frequent trips.

Christie last month attended a fundraiser at the home of Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire co-founder of Facebook, and has been to eight other recent political functions in California, Washington, Boston, New York City and Virginia. He also traveled to New Orleans for the Super Bowl. Tickets to the fundraising events generally cost $3,800, the maximum that can be contributed to a New Jersey candidate’s fund.

The Republican governor’s vigorous campaigning is welcomed by his party’s down-ticket candidates, who think it will boost their chances in a year when all 120 state legislative seats are in play. It’s also reviving talk of national ambitions for Christie, who turned down overtures to run for president in 2012.

Christie was in Palm Beach, Fla., on Thursday and heads to Miami today. He’ll go to Edina, Minn., next week for another fundraiser.

A Monmouth University poll shows Christie ahead by 42 percentage points over state Sen. Barbara Buono, who is expected to be the Democratic gubernatorial candidate. But Michael DuHaime, Christie’s chief political strategist, said this is no time to play it safe.

“We feel great where things stand right now in terms of the election, but this is a state that historically has been a very tough state for any Republican,” DuHaime said. “Obviously, Gov. Christie is unique in he’s receiving a lot of support from independents and a good chunk of backing from Democrats as well. He’s received endorsements from Democratic mayors and some labor groups that endorsed Gov. Jon S. Corzine in 2009. Clearly he’s winning over people he didn’t have support from last time.”

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State Sen. Tom Kean Jr., R-Union, said Christie’s visibility on the national campaign trail helps other GOP candidates in New Jersey.

Monmouth County Freeholder Director Thomas Arnone, a Republican seeking re-election this year, agreed. “I couldn’t ask for a better person to have at the top of the ticket,” he said.

Democrats have enjoyed control of the state Legislature since 2004, but Kean said Christie will have a major impact on races for Senate and Assembly.

“I believe we’re going to win the Legislature. The governor is a big part of the reason we will,” Kean said. “It’s his energy, his enthusiasm, his leadership that’s resonating with people all over the country. People back here at home know we have more work to do to make government smaller and smarter, make the state more affordable for families and concentrate on job creation. Everybody from our party will work until the final bell in November.”

Buono, who doesn’t have any scheduled fundraising events, said Christie should stay in New Jersey more.

“Over the last two years, Gov. Christie has spent an extraordinary amount of time traveling, spending nearly 70 days out of state. These were mostly political trips, including four days in Iowa and five in New Hampshire alone,” Buono said in a statement released by her campaign. “While property taxes soar and unemployment hovers near 10 percent, Gov. Christie has been furthering his national political ambitions at the expense of New Jersey’s working and middle-class families.”

Christie had more than $2.5 million in his campaign coffers before embarking on the out-of-state tour. The amounts raised won’t be public until campaign reports are filed with regulators, DuHaime said.

Monmouth University Polling Director Patrick Murray said Christie is on the road frequently “because he has the ability to raise money and raise his national profile, and he’s taking advantage of it. His campaign operation is not being overcautious with the lead and, if he can make a few swings out of state to raise money, there’s no reason not to.”

Christie has been criticized in the past for leaving the state, but Murray said “the backlash didn’t stick with him.”

Murray said Christie will continue cruising to re-election unless Buono “proves she can make this a tighter race.”

“She has to go after Christie on the national stage and try to get national media on issues such as gun control and gay marriage,” he said. “But the governor has been pretty good at not painting himself into corners, especially on those issues. She’s going to have to raise money from national donors who want to bloody up Chris Christie.”

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